The names of two veterans -- Health Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and Speaker of Legislative Assembly Rajendra Arlekar -- are being considered for the top post in case Parrikar moves to Delhi.
Counting for assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur was held on Thursday. Here's how the big names fared.
Congress member of Parliament Francisco Sardinha on Friday moved a private member's Bill in the Lok Sabha to revoke the ban on bullfights, asserting that these festivities form part of a tradition going back centuries.
Goa Chief Minister Digamber Kamat, who earned the ire of Congress colleagues for his statement calling Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi his 'best friend', on Saturday said the remark was taken out of context and expressed his commitment to secularism. "My statement has been taken out of context solely to create media and political hype," Kamat, who left the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2005 and joined the Congress, said, seeking to put a lid on the controversy over his remark.
Cashing-in on the anti-incumbency factor in a big way, the Bharatiya Janata Party-Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party combine on Wednesday rode to power in Goa, ousting the Congress and securing majority in a House of 40 members, nearly half of whom will be new faces.
Goa's former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat was asked to furnish a surety of Rs 1 lakh.
Five Congress legislators, who have been lobbying against Goa Chief Minister Digamber Kamat, have decided to meet assembly Speaker Pratapsingh Rane to urge him to take charge of the top post, sources close to them said on Wednesday. The legislators are backed by a group of seven legislators including three from the Nationalist Congress Party, two from the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, one from the United Goans Democratic party and an independent, they said.
Even as a large number of RSS workers and supporters, including some office bearers, have pledged support to Velingkar, who was removed as the state chief recently, a sizable number of swayamsevaks are averse to part ways with the Sangh.
Goa police on Wednesday said it has come to light that "bribe was paid" by a US firm for a water developmental project in the state.
Gehlot accused Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of creating a new model in the country's politics of toppling elected governments through "horse trading", such as in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa and Manipur.
Apart from Kerala, in no state did the Grand Old Party scored in double digits.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said it was not disappointed with the results of Goa Assembly elections though the outcome was not up to the expectations.
After the party's drubbing in the just-concluded assembly polls in five states, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has asked its state unit chiefs in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur to put in their papers.
Governor S C Jamir administered the oath of office and secrecy to Sequeira at Raj Bhavan in the presence of Chief Minister Digambar Kamat and others.
A series of close-door meetings are being held at the chief minister's official residence at Altinho in Panaji, where Congress and NCP legislators are working on their strategy, sources said.
The Congress is set to retain power in the state.
The National Commission for Women on Wednesday termed as 'derogatory and irresponsible' the remarks of a Congress Member of Parliament from Goa on the alleged rape of a Russian woman in the state.
Nath's comment came amid the exodus from Congress and four days after eight MLAs of the Grand Old Party from Goa switched allegiance to BJP.
Sources close to Goa Chief Minister Digamber Kamat said that the tourism industry, already reeling under severe recession, worked overtime to ensure the state does not implement the ban as it will send wrong signal to the tourists, resulting in more cancellations.
Mahatma Gandhi's great-grandson Tushar Gandhi on Thursday opposed a ban on the Sanatan Sanstha, which is under scan for the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, saying banning any organisation is "undemocratic".
The Congress hit out at Devendra Fadnavis being sworn-in as the Maharashtra chief minister on Saturday, saying it was a "betrayal of people's mandate" and the "illegitimate" government formation will self-destruct.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met the top priests of various churches in Kerala, giving a push to the Bharatiya Janata Party's efforts to reach out to the influential minority community in the southern state ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, sources said.
The BJP on the other hand is in power in 16 states in the country.
Senior Congress leader B K Hariprasad's statements regarding ministerial and chief ministerial posts, along with his veiled dig at Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah seems to have created a sense of unease within the ruling party in Karnataka.
Technocrat-turned-politician, Manohar Parrikar, set to become Goa chief minister for the third time, is known for his clean image, blunt talk and development initiatives.
Rejecting allegations of showing undue interest in and interfering with the probe, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday said the state government has a duty to do justice to the girl in the case of alleged sexual assault by Tehelka Editor Tarun Tejpal.
Under attack over their proposed government-funded trip to Brazil to watch the football World Cup, six Goa legislators on Friday decided to pick up the tab for the visit themselves although opposition the Congress said it would only believe them if an official notification confirmed their decision.
The "guests from Goa", BJP sources said, have been shifted to a private farm house on the Jaipur-Ajmer road, about 20 km from Jaipur.
A day after a Goa minister spoke against young girls visiting pubs in short dresses, Sri Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik on welcomed the statement saying it showed that several important people shared his views.
With the Pradesh Congress committees passing resolution seeking Rahul Gandhi at the helm of All India Congress Committee, party General Secretary, Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday said such measures have no binding effect.
During police investigation, the role of the third woman, who is absconding, also came to light.
Amit Shah wants to increase the party's nationwide vote share by at least 10 per cent from the 37.7 per cent it secured five years ago and ensure above 50 per cent vote share in the states where it came close to that benchmark, but couldn't cross it.
Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Monday promised free pilgrimage to various religious centres, including Ayodhya and Ajmer Sharif, if his party is voted to power in Goa in the assembly polls due in next February, which he said is a 'third guarantee' being given by AAP to Goans.
Goa CM Kamat leaves no stone unturned in an effort to revoke the SEZs passed by the Central Govt.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's decision to nominate Ananta Rai 'Maharaj', who has been demanding a separate state of 'Greater Cooch Behar' to be carved out of West Bengal, as its candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections from the state, has kicked off a fresh storm with the ruling Trinamool Congress accusing the saffron party of fanning separatism in the state.
'His success confirms that the infirm 132-year-old party can still get to its feet if it allows regional leaders to come to the fore,' argues Amulya Ganguli.
Digambar Kamat has been summoned by the Crime Branch to appear before it on Wednesday in connection with the case.
